When Hubby said Sure....

Yes,yes! Hubby sayin "sure" to takin' pictures is so rare I decided I'd better document this and these pictures...now I can Never Again throw in his face "you NEVER want to take pictures with us!" :) Picture taking at this house happens because mama wants pictures. But on this day,he was in a tremendously, super, good mood ,so good that picture taking was fun! I'm making a point when I  say tremendously,super,good mood because, he can be in a super good mood but still mutter complaints when it comes to taking pictures! ;)
So on Thanksgiving Day we headed out to the cotton for some pictures,not professional,just pictures.The sun was so bad so they didn't turn out just perfect but I will always get soft and fluffy inside when I look at these cotton pictures! ;)

So there you have it! One day in history that this family had fun taking pictures :)

Now,you're probably wondering where I've been? Well,I've been here,very uninspired to blog...even tho I have so much to blog about! And more recipes! My recipes kinda got thrown by the way side over Thanksgiving but I do have some to share.

Today I'm baking christmas cookies with the kiddos.They are excited about going to PaPa & Grammy's house for Christmas! And so is their mommy,and daddy So excited we are actually looking forward to the long drive down! I'm already praying for safety.

And talking about praying,I was so happy because yesterday it was proven to me that Braxton really is understanding the point of praying. He has a cold, and maybe a sore throat right now and so Tuesday before we left for town he wanted me to pray that Jesus would taking his cold away. So we prayed.Yesterday morning he woke up and he said, "Jesus didn't take my cold out." So we prayed again.

Sometimes my days get so long and wearisome with all the training that goes into these two,but moments like that make it all worth it. Praying that someday soon,when they're all grown up they will be strong faithful disciples for our dear Lord! And this mommy is hoping that Jesus sees fit to heal that cough.

Y'all have a wonderful day!

We're ready for Thanksgiving...

How 'bout you?

But we DEFINITLEY want to be wild Indians, not the laid back Pilgrims :)

And real feathers would have been so much 'cooler lookin' on these hats, but since our husband and daddy would very likely skin us for plucking out feathers from his prize turkey tails on display, we decided to be safe and craft some out of paper :) (after all, we still do want our skin! :D )

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

Enjoy your holiday and don't forget to be thankful! ;)

Things that make me thankful and happy....

Thanksgiving is just around the corner.Have you ever thought about all the things you are truly grateful for? There's little things that I'm thankful for...little things like, more counter space,more cupboard space,a washer that really works and a dryer that really drys things.... These are some of the smaller things but even small things count!
Than there's big things like...an awesome family,the freedom we have in our country,food to eat,a house to live in,warm showers....and the list could go on.These truly are BIG things because there's lots of people around the world that don't have either of the things I just mentioned!
Anyway,I was not planning a "Thanksgiving post" here, but lets not forget to be so very grateful and thankful to the ONE who provides us with all things good.A happy spirit is a grateful spirit.

I thought I would share with you a few things that made me super happy this past week.

I looked out our front window the other morning and it hit me at the beauty I can see first thing in the morning,right out my front window.The fall colors are so bright and brilliant here this year,more than I remember in the 3 years we've been here.

(The next pictures you will just have to look past the quality.I still have not mastered the art of taking pictures in bad lighting, so bear with me)

This pretty bookshelf made this lady super,super happy! The dear hubby grabbed it up at an auction for a grand $21! It is a heavy duty bookshelf that fit right into our space.Here at the trailer we are in need of more storage so it was fun to put in extra shelving around here for all our book like things ;)

Next time I'm going along to the auction because it's hard telling what other good deals he let there! ;)

This lamp was found at our local Goodwill.I love going in there to see what I can find.Anyway,we were in need of lamps and I found this one.Exactly the style I was looking for but even tho' I don't care for the shade,I knew I can take care of that. It was priced at $10 - a lil more than I like to give at a goodwill but since it was exactly the style I was looking for I decided I'll give $10. Better than $30 - $40 at Target,right? ;) So I took the lamp and another decor Item I had found,got up to the cash register and cha-ching! My total was $6.??.  I had a nice little surprise! The lamp was acutally in the half price category that day! I was excited about that little blessing!

And as alot of you know,I love couponing.I love the challange of it,and I also love the savings it brings.I'm not a pro by any means, and I'm totally not an EXTREME COUPONER. The last few months I had lost a little interest because sales were not great! and it just wasn't working to stay in my budget.So I slacked for a few weeks,partly because of busy-ness and partly because it wasn't as fun when sales weren't as good! ;) Anyway,the last few weeks have been less hectic and I decided to put my all back into it and see what happens...well I was so tickled how my efforts paid off at publix! I got $80 worth of groceries for $30.(to some this may be an everyday occurance.To me it's an accomplishment) Am I bragging? no.I'm just extremely happy to feel like I'm saving on our groceries again.And the best part is when the cashier is excited too and tells you "good job,come again!" I love that old lady,she's the best!

These two make me happy too.They're little balls of happy energy.They keep our place so lively,and the older they get,the livelier it gets :) And they keep us laughing! Today when I offered Braxton an apple for his snack, his reply to me was "no,I don't want that healthy stuff!" :D alrighty then! And tonight when I was holding Hailey in my lap I was kissing her all up and she said "I'm not a baby!" Guess she thinks the kissin's for babies!
I wish all of you a happy Sunday!

Halloween...and Apple Pie Squares and Homemade Croutons...

Halloween in my title sure got you're attention, didn't it? :) Well the costumes I made for the children this year happened to be very simple/easy... and all the candy they got from trick or treating...well I stuck it away and am snacking on it myself.Better I get the cavities than them,right?!
Ok,ok!!! I'm joking! The only costumes my kids stepped into on Halloween night was their PJs, (oh and those aren't costumes are they now? ;) And the trick or treating, well the candy they got that evening was at the chiropractors office from the assistant who was dressed in a Georgia Bulldogs shirt (bulldogs? I got that right didn't I? ;D ) with a funny little set of rabbits ears or something like that on her head.That really sounds like a halloween costume doesn't it!?
Annnnywayyyy,on to my point. I am so happy that Halloween is now over for another year! And now I can maybe follow the blogs I love to follow without seeing some nasty Halloween DYI decoration of some kind! All the devilish stuff is enough to almost make you shudder...my children do shudder, Literally! We happened to be at the mall Halloween evening (not celebrating mind you! ;) and the things we saw had our children in tears.I think we should write it down as a reminder for next year that we stay at home that evening!
What I actually came to do was share a few recipes with you.
Recipes are my latest obsession.I have had so much fun cooking the last while,trying recipes I've never tried before.And some of them are common as ever but it's still fun to try a common new recipe - to me anyway.
APPLE PIE SQUARES was one I tried this last week.And they were so yummy! I had some leftover apples that needed to be used up and I needed a dessert for the suppers I made so I decided to try these...

2 - 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup cold butter, cubed

1 egg - separated

3 to 4 tablespoons milk

1 cup crushed cornflakes

9 cups thinly sliced, peeled, tart apples (about 10 medium)

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar - divided

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon - divided

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

GLAZE:

1 cup confectioners' sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1 to 2 tablespoon milk

( I just now realized that I totally didn't follow that glaze recipe :D I just made glaze the way I usually do and that's with water,not milk and no vanilla.Mine is sounding a little blah about now! )

In a large bowl,combine flour and salt;cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.In a measuring cup,combine egg yolk and enough milk to measure 1/3 cup.Gradually add to the flour mixture,tossing with a fork until dough forms a ball.

Divide dough in half.Roll one portion into a think 15 - in.x 10-in. rectangle.Transfer to the bottom of an ungreased 15 - in. x 10 - in. x 1 - in. baking pan.

Sprinkle with cornflakes ( I honestly don't get this part but I did it anyway :) )

In a large bowl,combine the apples,1 cup sugar, 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon and nutmeg;toss to coat.Spoon over crust.

Roll remaining dough into a think 15 - in. x 10 - in. rectangle;place over apple filling.Beat egg white;Brush over pastry.Combine remaining sugar and cinnamon;sprinkle over the top. Bake at 350* for 45 - 50 minutes or until golden brown.

For glaze,combine teh confectioners' sugar,vanilla and enough milk to achieve a drizzling consistency.Drizzle over warm pastry.Cool completely on a wire rack.

My little family loved them,I don't know about the others that had them but here it was a hit. That same evening I made salad and suddenly thought about it that I was out of croutons.And there was a recipe for homemade croutons that I had wanted to try,but since I didn't have all the ingredients for that one,I googled one, or swagbucked one, can't remember : D Either way works but I like swagbucks better because I get rewarded! LOL Anyhow, I did get croutons.They definitley weren't the best but they did the job and with a little playing around I think you could get some seriously yummy croutons with this recipe.So just in case you run out of croutons I'll give you the recipe :)

Homemade Croutons

1 loaf bread,cut into small cubes

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tbsp. butter,melted

2 large garlic cloves,minced

1/3 cup parmesan cheese

1-2 tbsp dry or fresh parsley

1/4 tsp dried basil

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. celery seed

pinch of salt

Combine ingredients (except bread).   Pour the seasoning mixture onto the baking pan and stir the croutons to coat.To make sure all are coated,they can be sprayed very quickly with olive oil spray (do not use any other kind of spray)

Arrange in single layers on cookie sheets.

Bake at 300 * for 10 -15 minutes ( I baked mine a WHOLE LOT longer) or until golden and fragrant.

And there you have it,my halloween and recipe post.

Wishing everyone a wonderful week ahead! This week there's lots I wana do!Don't know exactly what will get done and what won't but I'll let that to figure out later.Right now soft pretzles and friends are on my mind.

"ADIOS! "

(excuse any spelling errors there may be because at this moment I'm not taking time to proof read! ;)



Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake

You know how I said I'd be trying a new recipe every week? Well I did great this last week and tried two new recipes.This cake being one of them. It's good, but nothing extra ordinary really.Next time I would add a few extra spices like nutmeg and all spice maybe, and you could really boost the flavor! = )

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Cake

3/4 cup butter,softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

1 can (15 oz.) solid packed pumpkin

1 cup (6 oz.) semisweet chocolate chips

2 squares (1 oz. each) unsweetened chocolate,melted and cooled

3/4 cup finely chopped pecans, divided

In a large mixing bowl,cream butter and sugars until light and fluffy.Add eggs,one at a time,beating well after each addition.Beat in vanilla.Combine the flour,baking powder,baking soda and cinnamon;add to the creamed mixture alternatley with pumpkin.Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide batter in half.Stir melted chocolate into one portion.In a well greased 10 in. fluted tube pan,sprinkle 1/2 cup pecans.Spoon chocolate batter over pecans;top with pumpkin batter.Sprinkle with remaining pecans.

Bake at 325* for 65 - 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.Cool for 15 minutes before removing from pan to wire rack.    Yield: 12 servings

The powdered sugar icing was my addition to the cake.It really does make it better! ;)

Helicopters,leaves and cute kids...

I decided an anniversary post was so special,it deserved to be a subject all to itself - so,now on the same day I will do another post! Amazing,hu? Two posts in one day from me! Yep,amazing indeed.

Earlier this month Jason brought the helicopter to school to give the kids rides.The rest of us not in school were invited to come and take rides too, if we wanted.Since Joel didn't have to work that day,we decided him and Braxton could go for a ride.Let me give you a parenting tip here..."never,ever, tell your 3 year old the night before,that maybe tomorrow he can have a helicopter ride!" He will be asking you that night to pack a snack to take along and he may have a very,very hard time settling down to sleep! Trust me on this.(It probably didn't help that it was the first night at our "new house" which was very exciting to him : ) )
He was so excited...and I really thought I knew my little boy fairly well and figured once he sees those big scary blades and hears that loud,thundering noise he wouldn't go anywhere near that big,scary chopper.And my plan was that if Braxton refused to go with Joel than I'll go and fill his seat.I was slightly dissappointed :) because he marched up to that helicopter,got in and after they landed came off beaming from ear to ear! I was extremely glad he had fun tho' so...

We've been having beautiful fall weather! And it has gotten me into the mood to cook! I have stacks of Taste of Home magazines that I'm going through right now and I'm cutting out all the recipes that I want to try.And there's ALOT! So,I came up with this awesome idea that I'm going to try a new recipe every week and share it with you. So at least I'll be able to blog once a week now ;) I'm hungry for pumpkin things right now.A recipe I want to try this week is one I found for pumpkin cheesecake.It looks so yummy but since I can't eat to much cheesecake and the rest of my lil family neither,I may need some help devouring it :)
I went out to mow our lawn for the first time since we moved.It's a new lawn for me and since I can't stand crooked lines and such it took me awhile getting it mowed to my satisfaction! To some it would probably have been comical because I left a few big skippers(which I later did mow) in attempt to straighten my lines.But if I have crooked rows it bugs me!!!! :)And then after mowing through a roll of string that got caught up in the blades,I was down on my knees cutting it off!I finally did get it mowed.
It was slightly boring mowing with our John Deere since I got used to Joel's cadillac AKA walker, that he uses on his yards,but the John Deere does the job so I won't complain ;)
And I promised the children that after I was done mowing I would rake leaves and let them play in the pile.So we went and just had a fun time.

I figured you grandparents would appreciate the pictures! ;)

Happy Fall to all of you!

~ 5 Years! ~

 This month marks 5 years that I've been married to the wonderful man that I loved back then ... and love even more now! I don't even know where to start! We've had so much happen over the last five years - moving, moving,  out of state moving, kids, moving, job changes, new church, moving, ER visits (way to many for 5 years!) You may notice all the moving I put into that sentence and before you start judging me for exaggeration,please don't! Because every "moving" that I wrote in that sentence actually happened ;) Yes, it did.We have moved way to much in our 5 years.But sometimes that's how it goes.We have finally moved into our church community and I told Joel I just want to stay here for the next 20 years ;) Maybe 40! We didn't warn Matt's ( our new landlord) that they may have a very,very,very,difficult time getting us out of this place,in fact,if they want us to move any time soon they may literally have to drag us out - and if they drag us out I will be fighting...screaming,clawing,crying,kicking....ok,you get the picture! We've looked at way to many places,had way to much stuff fall through the cracks and now we're here,and I'm happy :) Extremely happy,so happy that ,good chance the above scene would actually happen if needed : D
Are we settled ? is the question I've been hearing.I don't mind the question at all,just in case you asked me and you're reading this ;) "We're gettin' there" would be my answer.Once I can have a place for my storage stuff instead of the carport,it'll all be great.Those boxes piled in the corner bug me!Other stuff I can work on as I have time.
Back to the five year thing now :) This last weekend me and my dear hubby took off for the weekend! Yep,we acted like we had no responsibility,left the kids off with Jan and went.It was such a refreshing,wonderful,relaxing weekend.Exactly what we needed! My mind has been stretched trying to get everything together to move and then we moved and it was the "movers mess" after that.So like I said this weekend was exactly what we needed!

How's that for handsome!? ;)

We went to Charlotte and totally had a great weekend of sleeping in,eating,staying up late,sleeping in,eating,eating ( btw,I ate salad for lunch today ;). Saturday we spent the day shopping - yes,literally.I was so excited! We've wanted to go to Ikea for a long time so we decided to do that this weekend.I know,sounds funny for an anniversary trip but it was "da bomb." Oh and then we went to Bass Pro Shops in the evening and later went to watch "Courageous". All around fun weekend to me! And I loved the flowers we got too!

Two beautiful Mum plants from my hubby,because he knew I wanted them so much!

A GORGEOUS boquet from my mum & pops & baby sister

And a BEAUTIFUL boquet from my grandparents - pretty pink roses and calalilies!

I love having fresh flowers around the house.It's so cheery and pretty! And thinking about the people that sent them always warms me :) 

Yep,it's been a wondeful 5 years and I'm hoping for many more to spend with my Awesome Man! I love him so much and thank God for him! I am beyond blessed.

~My blessings~

Today I keep thinking of a question someone had posted on facebook.I can't remember the exact wording but the question was this ... ~If you woke up one day with only the things you thanked God for the day before,what would you have?~
I think that's a pretty powerful question! Because so often it can be so easy to pray and ask God for His blessings and tell Him everything you're struggling with but totally forget to thank Him for the blessings you do have! Having a grateful spirit is my goal.Being grateful for what you have is one sure way to happiness.Sadly,I can often forget that!

Today I have one proud son. I saw this butterfly flying around to the patches of clover so I told Brax to run and get his bug jar and net and we can try to catch it.Well we caught it and he has been delighted to carry this thing all over.In fact,right now I believe it's sharing his bed over naptime! : D He of course wanted to keep it to show Daddy! :)

Hailey was calling it a daddy butterfly but Braxton was very emphatic that it's NOT A DADDY BUTTERFLY! Later I heard him refer to the butterfly as "he" ! ;)

I brought them in and and we looked it up online to see if we could figure out what kind of butterfly it is.The closest one I could indentify it with was the "painted lady",or something like that,but I still didn't think it looked quite right.I don't know,I'm not great with knowing all the different kinds,so maybe it's a very easy one I should know? All I know is it's a pretty butterfly! ;)

My heart did a "proud little dance" when I heard Brax say, "Mommy,look at these worms." Ya,I'm weird like that but I LOVE to see my little boy being a little boy! At one time Brax was so finicky about any little dirt he got on his hands,and he didn't like to be wet and messy so it's a big wow factor to see him play with a spider and worms, ALL IN ONE MORNING! ;) I'm petrified of spiders but not daddy long legs! ;) That's the kind he found this morning and he wanted me to come look at a big spider he found.After I came back inside he was still out there trying to knock it off the gas tanks to the ground when suddenly I heard this frantic screaming and saw him in all desperation trying to get back over the porch rail.I laughed! I'm guessing the spider came crawling towards him and he thought it might get him! :)

The kiddos LOVE going to the library and they love our librarian "Ms. Jo". We sure are going to miss our small town library when we move! She's knows almost everybody by name that comes in and she LOVES kids! Yesterday I took them to the library to pick out some books and just to have a little fun there. For some reason they love books and I'm one happy mama about that :) I'm kinda surprised it makes me so happy because I'm not a huge reader myself but for some reason I still love books,especially children's books.

Some of the books just make me laugh! The one book I got the time before last was about a puppy that had terrible breath! It was so terrible that people couldn't even stand to be around him...but...in the end he saved the day so people his owners were happy to wear clothespins on their noses and keep him because he was a Hero! : D Silly,I know but the saying on the back of the book was what really tickeled me! It said "Bad breath is better than no breath at all." When I quoted this to Joel his response was a little chuckle and "No Kidding!" : D

Going to "Wosies" (Rosie) house is another highlight for these two! Everytime we go over there they get to go for a golf cart ride to the "candy store."
And when Jonas is home,he gives them all the attention they can handle!

Here Jonas was showing them how to cut down a "tree." That branch ended up coming home with us because Jonas told Braxton he could have it and Brax would've been broken hearted to not be allowed to take home his "tree" from Jonas! Nevermind all the dry brittle leaves that ended up in our car because of it ~ think I'll remind Jonas that he should thank me for my part in cleaning up his yard! ;D

This weekend we had two extra kiddos around for a day and a night.Brax and Hailey loved having playmates here.And they were good as gold.I love when I get the chance to babysit!

Well,I should run along. Please keep my Father in Law in your prayers.He ended up in the hospital the other day and has pneumonia and blood clots.Yesterday we thought he didn't have any major ones but I guess they found a few more since then or something? Don't really have all the details but I'm sure he'd appreciate the prayers.

And don't forget to thank God for all your blessings! ;)

Humor in a not so humorous day!

I don't know about you but sometimes I have these days when I really don't feel like finding any humor in the whole day! You kinda feel like Eeyore.Like there could be a rain cloud shadowing your whole day.
Well maybe I'm weird but I have those days - (although I have a hunch I am in fact pretty normal.)Today was one of those days!
 But I'm not here to write about the downside of my day. I'm just being honest in saying that's kinda how my day went,mostly cloudy :)
But,humor just jumped out at me! And made me smile :)

When I saw Braxton hold this baby I looked at him and asked him if he's the babies daddy? :) His reply was "yes" with a big smile on his face. (right now he thinks the roll of daddy would be a good thing.It is good,but if he'd know the stress that comes with the good, I have a feeling he'd be holding off! :) We'll just spare him that part for now and let him dream.

The funny part was when Hailey was holding Elmo and I asked her if she's Elmo's mommy? Of course it was a "yes" .My guess is that it was a proud yes! :D

And then it hit me! The funniness of this! Lets just hope that Elmo's big,poppy on the top- of - his - head - eyes,his HHHEEEUGE mouth and that weird orange nose DO NOT pass on to the next generation! I don't wanna be carrying around my grandchildren and have people start gasping in disbelief  and suddenly say "oh,oh wow! There's definitley NO question that Elmo is their daddy!"

My friends,I know this is lame! So lame but sometimes it's the VERY SIMPLE,very lame things in life that make me smile!

~Simple things like Elmo's big buggy eyes!~

Living my life to it's fullest and nothing less!

Do I have time to write this morning? No.The simple answer is no.But I just cannot forget the story I read of a young lady who lost the battle of cancer and left behind a 5 year old, 3 year old and 1 year old! I read her the blog of one of her friends and it was just so sad!Her title of the story was "Why every moment matters when you're a mom (Don't let them slip away) And...
My mind went to yesterday! Yesterday was one of those days when I literally just felt like growling! My
2 babes are in the stage where (like I told a friend) everything needs to be banged on,jumped on,chewed on,torn apart,kicked on,strewn everywhere...or so it seems at times.And there was a time yesterday when I just wanted to scream!!Settleing fights and cleaning up messes gets the most of this mommy sometimes and I was tired.Tired of trying to figure out how to settle things,tired of trying to make my son talk nice to me,tired...just tired!
Hubby came home and I tried to keep my ranting so it's not the first thing he hears when he gets home,but eventually he did hear it.And he sympathizes because he knows,but he also experienced the little bit of grizzly I had left! :( I am not proud of that! But...
I'm making a point here (eventually :)...

As I read this story of this mom ,my heart was sad.Really sad!Sad for her husband and sad for her children.Sad that she is missing out on this precious time of her precious little family.It doesn't seem fair.But it gave me a new meaning to life! It's good to read stuff like this every once in a while because it helps you get your priorities straightened out.At least it helps me!
And I decided that I want to live my life to the absolute fullest,so that if my time comes to die,the precious people in my life remember me as a soft hearted,kind and loving person and not a grizzly! I don't want anyone looking into my casket,seeing a "bear" instead of a soft,kind hearted,loving mommy,wife and friend!
Am I reacting on emotion? Because I read this story now I'm all emotional and can't help my feelings? I may be...I don't know.But one thing I do know is that this story spoke to me and I want to go forward,leave my past mistakes behind me and live every minute,every hour,every day,leaving a positive impact,especially for my children and my husband.Treasure every minute I have with them,because you know what? NO ONE is guaranteed tomorrow! nor today.

I love these little people! They're precious.

I love this man! He's one of the most kind hearted,gentle,and forgiving guys you'll ever find! Am I blessed?

I TRULY AM!

With God I know I can accomplish what I'm reaching for!

Happy day to all of you! I'm off to get my freezer in order,a little sewing,some desk work and a whole lot of LOVING!

Life...and all it's lessons



Sometimes life has many lessons to teach us! The last while God has been teaching me many things through life! This morning it's a lesson on trust.
Do you ever get into a situation where you say something,or do something and all of a sudden you're left wondering what your motive was? And whether you should go back and try to correct what you said or did? And then you're not even sure yourself what you should say and your just driven with guilt?
Well I have alot of those at times :) Last night was one of those times.Trying to decide what to do and not sure where I should go with it.
I started thinking and I started seeing myself more clearly.I think at times when I'm not sure of myself I feel like I need to try and correct it so I can feel better!So many times I rely on MYSELF instead of GOD to help me feel better.I think I can take the whole situation and correct it and then I cleared MYSELF and I feel like I'm in God's good favor again.
As I started really thinking about this I began thinking that too often I rely on my works to save me and don't trust God fully with my life.So I prayed and told God I'm trusting Him with the situation.
Then when I started my work around here this morning I turned on the radio to a christian station that I listen to all day sometimes and the first words of a song that really popped out at me were "You are Forgiven...".I  at one point sat down started reading verses on trusting God and so often it says that he that puts his trust in God is happy.And a verse that I thought of was "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not onto thine own understanding!"
You think God was trying to speak to me? I believe He was.Now if I can just let go of MYSELF and trust HIM fully I think my life will truly be a blessed life!
This month has brought many changes to our life! I feel so blessed and Awed by God and at the same time things are still just slowly sinking in!
The first change is the First Choice Lawncare business that we bought.We have prayed about this particular business for quite awhile and I was at a point when I basically kinda gave it up.To many things to think about,looking for a house and at the same time looking at a business that didn't seem to be available and I was just ready to give up! I figured just forget the business!
It all started last fall.A guy from the area wanted to sell his business but in order to do so he had to find another job.We were really excited and thought it would be a great business for Joel,something he's great at and enjoys.So we waited and prayed and waited.Meanwhile we looked for a house and prayed and prayed.There were many,many tears of frustration and impatience on my part.If it's true that God holds all our tears in bottles I cringe to think of how many bottles will have my name on them! :) Anyway,finally we looked into a place.Suited us great,we loved it - only thing was,the seller wasn't sure if they could sell at the moment.So we waited a few weeks and sure enough,they couldn't sell till the beginning of next year.So one more house down the drain - for then anyway.
We finally decided forget it,lets find a place to rent up around church.Just rent and forget the stress for now!So we started looking,listening of a place for rent.
And then one day the call came.It was Wendell,the owner of Lawn Business.He told Joel he's pretty sure he may have a job,but we still didn't know for sure.Then day he found out for sure that he had the job,he called Joel.That was Wednesday or Thursday.Joel called his boss to let him know that in the next couple of weeks he might be quitting and then everything started rolling so fast it seemed unreal.
To make a long story short,Joel called his boss on that Thursday,had his last day of hauling on that Friday and 3 days later on Monday,he started his new job.

Joel is now the owner of this business and he loves his work.It's still amazing how God answered that prayer...and then to top it off just the other week a friend from church said her parents place is going to be up for rent.
We checked into it and had decided that we could try it.It was a nice place but very tiny and we would've had to rent a storage unit somewhere. But we had pretty much decided to go ahead and try it,when we got another call.This call was about another place that will be up for rent here shortly and they heard we'd been looking for a place.
So Thursday night we headed over there and by Saturday we made our descision to take that place instead.So I guess in October we will be making the move.It'll take us 5 mintues to get to church instead of our 35 minutes we have now.The yard will be half the upkeep compared to what we have now.
It's going to be a totally different life.
It reminded me again to just trust God with everything we have!He knows every detail of our lives and He saw everything worked out way before we ever did! A friend suggested I write all this stuff down for later times when I face doubt and worry,so I can remember that God is indeed in control!

It's still kinda a shock what all took place this last month and at the same time it kinda makes me giggle!Because it seems since we've been married,most big descisions wewe are faced with and  make always happen with a BOOM!Like when we moved to SC we were here in July for my BIL's wedding,had no intentions of moving and by September we were here! And it's one of the best things that ever happened. And all this stuff this month happened so fast but it just goes to show how faithful God really is! The other day it rained.The children got drenched and Joel sent them inside.Usually we try to be in unity in our parenting but that day I told them to go back outside and play in the rain! ;) I ran for my camera and got some pictures.

I laughed and told my mom that I think this is the first time I actually told them to run outside and play in the rain.The only time I can remember at least :) Usually I don't like all that mess but the joy on their faces was just the cutest!

I wish everyone a great week and remember to trust God with everything.I'm talking more to myself than anyone else! ;)